Women's Basketball Clinches CAA Regular Season Title

Thursday, March 3

Harrisonburg, Va.

7:00 P.M.

Drexel University

24-3,16-1CAA

James Madison

13-15,9-8CAA

Drexel

James Madison

Photo by: Gavin Baker / Sideline Photos LLC

Women's Basketball Clinches CAA Regular Season Title

3/3/2022 8:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Drexel University women's basketball team clinched at least a share of the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title as the Dragons downed the James Madison Dukes 80-60 on Thursday night.

With the win and sweeping the season series earlier this year from Delaware, Drexel secures the top seed in the upcoming CAA Tournament to be held March 10-13 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

BY THE NUMBERS

The scoring output was the highest of the season for the Dragons.
Hannah Nihill led Drexel with 23 points in the game, 21 in the second half.
Keishana Washington continued her torrid scoring pace this season with 17. She also tied for the team high with seven assists.
Kate Connolly provided a spark for the offense with 15 points, hitting a career-high five three-pointers, part of a team season-high 12 treys.
Tessa Brugler led DU with nine rebounds, scoring eight points and dishing a personal best seven assists.
The Dragons shot 11-for-17 in the third quarter, outscoring JMU by 15.
With its 24th win of the year, Drexel matched the 2017-18 team for the most wins before the conference tournament.
The win was the first for DU at James Madison since January 10, 2013.
It is the most points scored in a game for Drexel since an 84-74 overtime win against William & Mary on February 21, 2020.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a tough first quarter for the Dragons who shot just 4-for-15 from the floor in the opening 10 minutes. Despite the numbers from the field, Drexel held an 8-4 edge before the Dukes ended the period on a 10-2 run, leaving DU trailing 14-10 at the end of the frame.
Drexel pulled closer thanks to some better shooting to begin the second period. Facing an 18-17 deficit with just more than four minutes remaining before halftime, DU got scoring punch from some unexpected sources as Jasmine Valentine hit back-to-back layups and Connolly connected on a pair of threes, helping the Dragons to a 29-24 lead at the break.
Washington and Connolly propelled the early Drexel offense in the third as Washington scored seven points and Connolly hit her fourth trey of the game as the Dragons opened the quarter on a 12-3 run, opening a 41-27 advantage at the 5:30 mark.
DU did not stop there, outscoring the Dukes 26-11 for the period, including 10 points for Washington and Connolly hitting her career-best fifth triple of the game.
The Dragons and JMU effectively traded buckets through the final quarter to play out the contest.

UP NEXT
Drexel plays its final regular season game on Saturday, March 5 when it travels to Towson for an important contest in terms of RPI and NET rating. Tipoff from SECU Arena is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.